Career Edufair: Event grander than expected: Organisers

KATHMANDU, JUL 29 -
The second mega education and career fair organised by the Kantipur Publications in association with Global Education Counselling Centre concluded on Sunday, catering to a large number of students and their parents.

A total of 133,500 people visited The Kathmandu Post Career Edu Fair 2013 at the Exhibition Hall in Bhrikutimandap over three days. The number of visitors which was 25,500 on the opening day on Friday more than doubled on the second day with 56,000 visitors. The organisers said they had expected around 100,000

visitors in total.

“The event is a huge success. It has energised us to make it more effective in the days to come,” said Mahesh Swar, chief marketing offer of the Publications.

Most of the students, according the exhibitors, were interested in technical and management courses such as engineering, nursing, paramedicine and business administration. Considered the biggest education fair in the country, the event brought together a significant number of institutes from across the world along with their counsellors and related financial organisations.

Representatives from colleges and universities in Nepal, India and Bangladesh took part in the exhibition, which had a total of 125 stalls and 15 pavilions. Forty were from India, 10 from Bangladesh and one each from Thailand and China. Similarly, 25 education consultancies and 20 domestic colleges were part of the event too.

The event served as a bridge between various institutions and students who are eager for educational and professional opportunities in and out of the country. Career counselling was more prioritised in the event than course counselling. Unlike other education fair s, this one was not only limited to colleges and universities but hosted a wide range of stalls from consultancies, banks and financial organisations, career consultants and job providers.

Apart from regular counselling, students visiting the fair got to hear motivational speeches by Ranjit Acharya, Anil Chitrakar and Anil Shah on a daily basis. Similarly, the opportunity to exchange second-hand books also pulled crowds. People with unwanted books could exchange them at the fair with the ones they needed. Hundreds of people grabbed the opportunity.

'Best platform I could get in 10 years’

- Yogesh Uprety

Chief Executive Officer

International School of Management and Technology (ISMT)

For about a decade, I have been exhibiting in educational fairs. And this is the fourth time this year. The Kathmandu Post Career Edufair 2013

was the most successful and effective one I have ever participated. Visitors to the fair were genuine and potential students for us. If the organisers permitted, I would book a stall even for the next year.

The participation of around 125 academic institutions from various parts of the world let students compare the courses and fees of colleges at a single event.

Over 1,000 students visited and registered themselves through our stall in three days. Most of the students inquired about management and technical courses.

ISMT has been providing international degrees to students at affordable costs for more than four years. Our

college is affiliated to the NCCT Education and Edexcal in the UK and has been running BBA, BSc IT, BTTM and BHM programmes. Our students have the credit transfer facility to the colleges worldwide that are affiliated to the UK universities.

‘Concerts another attraction’

- Deepak Thapa

Chief, Entrepreneurship Programme, MBA

King’s College

The fair saw an overwhelming participation. The number of students visiting our stalls was far more than our expectation.

Apart from the participation of renowned academic institutions from home and abroad, the live concerts were another

attraction.

The fair was helpful not only for students, it gave colleges an opportunity to publicise themselves and create their space in the academic market. Most of the students visiting our stall were interested in MBA programmes and enquired about their scope.

King’s college has been offering MBA, MBA entrepreneurship, BBA and A-level degrees in affiliation with universities from the US and the UK.

US embassy offers visa counselling

The Embassy of the United States provided visa counselling at The Kathmandu Post Career Edufair 2013. Embassy representatives visited the fair for three days and provided all the information and counselling regarding student visa. They answered the queries of students aspiring to study in the US.

According to the visa counsellors, the students must present the evidence of their past academic performance and English language ability and the valid reason behind choosing the particular academic institution and the course. Students must also demonstrate a clear intent to depart the United States after completing the course and should have the evidence of sufficient funding sources to cover the entire education.

They also advised students not get befooled by the false hope of guaranteed visa. The visa consular officer only has the right to decide on visa and it is made after thoroughly examining the eligibility and the documents of an individual, according to the representatives.

Boredom? No way when there is music live

The exhibition hall at Bhrikutimandap brimmed with college students. It was like a real gala of the fair, where some were enquiring about the visa procedure with the American Embassy, while others were listening to a motivational speaker, and some accompanied by parents were taking personality and career counselling. Some were seen delightfully exchanging their old books with new ones. The fair provided students with all kinds of facilities for moulding their future careers in an academic environment.

Like the preceding two days, the last day of The Kathmandu Post Career Edufair 2013 on Sunday remained musical and ended with great fanfare, thanks to the live musical show by Manas Ghale and DJ Girish.

“I am very happy now that my daughter knows how to apply for the US and what subject to study and how to cope with the US culture. In our time, we never had anyone to counsel us on our further studies,” shared Renuka Paudel from Tangal, who attended a session on the US visa procedure at the American Embassy Visa Counselling section in the gala.

Outside the hall, the entire area echoed with live music. Hundreds of young folk could be seen making noise while others were dancing to the tune of live hip-hop and rap shows. Nepal’s renowned rapper Manas Ghale of Nepsydaz and DJ Girish accompanied by Thuley enthralled the crowd. It was Manas Ghale who started with his famous numbers like Nachyo Maichyang, Sukeko Jiu, and Choodaina Timro Mayale. In the hip-hop beat, the youth would follow him, clapping and dancing. Ghale would make political satires, criticise politicians for troubling the people.

DJ Girish and Thuley sang their famous hip-hop numbers like Malai Bhot Deu, She is the Bomb and Ma Yesto Chhu, to name a few. “I got a chance to see my favourite singer perform live. I’m so happy,” said Chanchal Joshi, one of the five nominees in the crowd who got to be photographed with the artistes backstage later.

While Anjita Shrestha, a Plus Two graduate form Ashirwad College who was dancing to the song Ma Premama with her friends, shared her jolly mood. “I am planning to join the BBA course. I could learn about the best colleges in town and now my friend and I have planned to join the same college.”

Like Shrestha, the three-day education fair provided a roadmap to their future career—abroad or in Nepal.

Labels: Highlight, News